LOCAL BUSINESS OWNERS and activists rallied outside the City Center Bishop Ranch shopping center in San Ramon on Thursday to protest retail theft after a jewelry store in the mall was robbed by a mob of 25 thieves earlier this week.
The small group held up signs that read “Deter Crime,” “Restore Law and Order,” and “Under Siege,” as passing cars honked in support.
They called on Gov. Gavin Newsom to invest more resources into public safety and Proposition 36, a state ballot measure that voters overwhelmingly approved in the November 2024 election. Prop 36 allows for harsher penalties of certain theft and drug crimes that were previously categorized as misdemeanors.
“It’s critical that Gov. Newsom hear the residents, the small businesses, and the mayors in the Bay Area and fund public safety and give money to Prop 36 so it can be fully implemented,” said activist Tuan Ngo in a speech.
On Monday afternoon, a mob of masked men stormed Heller Jewelers and began smashing jewelry cases in an organized heist as seen in a now-viral surveillance video that captured the robbery. Several shots were fired and $1 million worth of jewelry was stolen, according to San Ramon police.
Police began a pursuit as the suspects fled but officers later stopped the car chase to minimize danger to the public. Air support and other law enforcement agencies helped track down some of the suspects, police said.
As of Wednesday, seven suspects have been detained and are all from Oakland, according to police.
“Crime in Oakland is expanding to adjacent communities,” Ngo shouted. “Dublin is affected, San Ramon is affected, San Leandro is affected.”
The violent robbery at Heller Jewelers echoes a recent pattern seen throughout the region and state where jewelry stores are being targeted. This month, multiple similar heists of jewelry stores have occurred in the Bay Area.
In the past seven months, there have been 30 violent jewelry store robberies in the state, according to the Jewelers’ Security Alliance, which provides security assistance for jewelry stores nationwide.
In San Jose two weeks ago, a similar mob-style robbery that was caught on surveillance cameras occurred at Kim Hung Jewelry. More than a dozen thieves robbed the store after ramming a car into its storefront.
The store’s 88-year-old owner was pushed to the ground and suffered a stroke and heart attack due to the stress and shock of the robbery, according to a spokeswoman for Kim Hung Jewelry who is the niece of the owner.
“I just talked to my uncle two days ago, and he released from the hospital,” she said at the San Ramon rally. “He’s OK, but the business is not OK. Now we have to close, we have to pay for the hospital bill. We have to stay home, close the door, no business. We have to pay the co-pay for the insurance to fix up the store.”
You can’t hide this under the rug. This is a systemic problem. Addressing crime needs more attention from the governor’s office. We need to fully fund and support Proposition 36.
Edward Escobar, community organizer
Edward Escobar, a community organizer and advocate for small businesses, emphasized the urgency of cracking down on organized retail theft and noted the fears among small business owners.
“You can’t hide this under the rug,” he shouted at the rally. “This is a systemic problem. Addressing crime needs more attention from the governor’s office. We need to fully fund and support Proposition 36.”
Since going into effect in December, counties across the state implemented Prop 36 to varying degrees, according to the nonpartisan think tank Public Policy Institute of California.
Prop 36 did not come with a funding source to cover costs of increased enforcement for certain drug and retail crimes. Funding restrictions have contributed to the differences in its implementation.
In June, Newsom denied providing state funding to counties and cities to go toward executing the new provisions with the passage of Prop 36, citing budget constraints amid California’s multi-billion dollar deficit.